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T  II  E 


RISE  AND  GROWTH 


METROPOLIS 


SAMUEL  B.  RUG-G-LES. 


JOHN    W.    A  MERMAN,  PRINTER, 
No.  47  Cedar  Street. 

1875. 


Elite, 


THE   RISE  AND  GROWTH 


OF  THE 

METROPOLIS : 

BY 

SAMUEL  B.  RUG-G-LES. 


PREFATORY. 

The  publication  in  full,  of  the  above  entitled  work,  now  nearly 
ready  for  the  press,  is  postponed  to  the  month  of  April  next,  to 
approach  more  nearly  the  close  of  the  century,  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  1876. 

A  faithful  and  full  review  of  the  various  facts  and  causes  which 
have  united,  during  this  eventful  period  of  human  history,  in  stimu- 
lating the  "  Growth  of  the  Metropolis"  of  the  Xew  World,  could 
hardly  fail  to  recognise,  as  pre-eminently  important,  the  great  and 
persevering  endeavor,  now  covering  more  than  sixty  years  of  the 
century,  to  secure  to  Xew-Tork,  by  means  of  the  Erie  Canal,  with 
its  kindred  channels  of  navigation  and  auxiliary  means  of  transpor- 
tation, a  proper  share  in  the  vast  interior  commerce  of  the  Con- 
tinent. 

The  publication  of  the  present  work  has,  therefore,  been  tempo- 
rarily delayed,  for  the  purpose  of  including  in  the  narrative  the 
organic  and  final  action,  recently  and  unanimously  invoked,  with- 
out distinction  of  party,  by  both  of  the  great  political  organizations 


4 


so  long  dividing  the  State,  from  the  Legislature  at  Albany,  during 
its  approaching  session  commencing  early  in  January  next,  in  re- 
spect to  the  future  management  of  the  Canals,  and  their  due  com- 
pletion with  an  adequate  depth  of  water ;  a  vital  reform,  which 
must  immediately  and  largely  increase  their  commerce,  and  furnish 
a  very  material  element  in  estimating  the  future  growth  of  the 
metropolis,  embracing  all  the  municipalities  and  communities  ad- 
jacent to  the  harbor  of  New-York. 

Meanwhile,  it  is  believed  that  the  fiscal  and  other  pecuniary  re- 
sults of  the  long  sought  municipal  measure,  which  has  prescribed 
a  comprehensive  plan  of  steam  railway  routes  throughout  the  greater 
part  of  Manhattan  Island,  will  become  sufficiently  manifest  to  justify 
the  publication,  at  the  present  time,  of  the  "  Letters  on  Rapid 
Transit,"  forming  part  of  the  Avork  in  question,  and  presenting  facts 
of  primary  importance,  in  showing  the  growth  of  the  metropolis  in 
the  century  rapidly  approaching  its  end.  They  are  also  of  great 
and  immediate  interest  to  all  our  tax-payers,  in  demonstrating  the 
immense  increase  in  the  taxable  values  of  real  estate,  and  the  con- 
sequent diminution  in  the  general  burthen  of  taxation,  which  must 
inevitably  and  speedily  follow  the  completion  of  the  steam  railways 
prescribed  by  the  Rapid  Transit  Commissioners. 

To  avoid  all  misapprehension,  the  author  deems  it  proper  and 
necessary  to  add,  that  the  work  is  published  without  the  co-opera- 
tion, in  any  way,  of  any  of  the  municipal  authorities,  or  of  any 
manager,  director  or  stockholder  of  any  railway  company,  existing 
or  proposed  ;  but  solely  to  lighten  the  increasing  load  of  taxation, 
and  to  promote  the  general  welfare  of  the  metropolis,  present  and 
future. 

S.  B.  R. 

New- York,  October  20th,  1875. 


LETTERS  OJST  RAPID  TRANSIT, 


ADDRESSED  TO  THE 


1. 


Mayor  of  the  City  of  New-York,  and  to  the  President  of  the  Board  of 
Rapid  Transit  Commissioners, 

BY 

SAMUEL  B.  RUGGLES. 


AUGUST,  1875. 


New- York,  Av.gust  V8th,  1875. 
To  Hon.  "William  H.  Wickham,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New-  York  ; 

My  Dear  Sir :  In  compliance  with  your  personal  request  on  the 
5th  of  August,  inst.,  that  I  should  prepare  a  statement  of  the  value 
of  the  real  estate  in  the  City  of  New-York  north  of  Fourteenth- 
street  as  assessed  for  taxes,  and  the  probability  of  its  increase  by  a 
proper  system  of  cheap  and  rapid  transit,  and  after  three  weeks 
spent  in  collecting  and  arranging  the  necessary  information,  wholly 
derived  from  official  sources,  and  especially  from  Hon.  John 
Wheeler,  one  of  the  Tax  Commissioners,  I  now  have  the  honor  of 
presenting  for  your  examination  a  copy  of  one  of  the  official  maps 
of  the  city.  This  map  I  have  divided  into  seven  consecutive  geo- 
graphical portions,  on  each  of  which  I  have  inscribed  the  number 
within  its  limits  of  building  lots  of  the  ordinary  dimensions  of  25 
feet  front,  after  deducting  spaces  required  and  used  for  streets, 
avenues  and  public  parks,  together  with  the  aggregate  amount  as- 
sessed on  the  lots  with  the  buildings  thereon,  for  taxes  in  the  present 
year  1875,  with  the  average  amount  on  each  lot.  The  following 
is  a  summary  of  the  whole : 


6 


SUMMARY. 

Portions  of  the  City  above  Ulh  Street. 

1.  Between  14th  and  20th  streets  

2.  Between  26th  and  40th  streets  

3.  Between  40th  and  59th  streets,  (next  south 

of  Central  Park,)  

4.  Between  59th  and  110th  streets,  (next  east 

of  Central  Park,)  

5.  Between  59th  and  1 10th  streets,  (next  west 

of  Central  Park,)  

6.  Between  110th  and  155th  streets,  (next 

north  of  Central  Park,)  


Total  

7.  North  of  155th-street  to  Spuyten  Duyvel 
Creek  or  Harlem  River,  


Total,  

In  round  numbers, 

In  addition  to  this  map  and  statement*  I  will  endeavor  to  prepare 
and  present  to  you,  on  Tuesday,  the  31st  inst.,  a  brief  historical  sketch 
of  the  past  growth  of  the  population,  and  the  progressive  increase  of 
the  valuation  for  taxes  of  the  real  estate  of  the  city  north  of  Four- 
teenth-street, from  which  it  will  be  sufficiently  evident,  that  when- 
ever 80,000  of  the  119,968  lots  north  of  Fourteenth-street  shall  be 
occupied  by  substantial  buildings,  the  valuation  of  the  whole  119,968 
lots  may  probably  be  increased  to  at  least  $S00,000,000,  and  the 
actual  money  value  to  their  owners  to  at  least  $1,500,000,000  ;  and 
further,  that  this  immense  result  may  now  be  greatly  facilitated  and 
expedited  by  a  wise  and  comprehensive  plan  of  cheap  and  rapid 
transit,  which  shall  at  once  establish  two  main  lines  to  the  Harlem 
River,  respectively  extending  southwesterly  and  on  each  side  of 
Central  Park  parallel  thereto,  and  midway,  or  nearly  so,  from  the 
Park  to  the  Hudson  and  to  the  East  River,  and  thence  directly  down 
to  Fourteenth-street,  and  from  that  street  by  eligible  lines  to  the  City 
Hall  Park  ;  the  lines  to  be  managed  and  used  either  separately  or 
to  be  connected  by  cross  lines,  so  as  to  form  parts  of  one  harmo- 
nious system,  to  be  directed  and  used  under  one  common  authority. 

It  is  necessary  to  add,  that  in  the  preceding  statement  the  recent 
accessions  of  territory  from  Westchester  County,  stated  in  round 
numbers  at  12,000  acres,  and  containing  144,000  city  building  lots, 
now  forming  the  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth  Wards  of  the 


Xumber 
of  Lots. 

Aggreoatt 
Valuation. 

A  eerage 
of  each. 

9,980 
11,186 

$97,353,450 
108.158,050 

$9,749 
9,704 

14,942 

120,597,938 

8,071 

16,608 

57,048,550 

3,480 

12,320 

24,262,080 

1,969 

24,276 

41  0°2 1 1 5 

1 ,689 

89,248 

$448,821,763 

$5,028 

30,720 

5,660,500 

184 

119,968 
120,000 

$454,483,463 

$3,789 

*  The  map  thus  inscribed,  and  which  exhibits  all  the  routes  of  Rapid  Transit  prescribed  by 
the  Commissioners,  is  now  published  on  a  reduced  scale  with  these  letters,  which  have  been 
revised  by  the  author. 


7 


City  of  New-York,  and  valued  for  taxes  for  the  present  year  at 
$22,906,305,  are  not  included.  Upwards  of  2,000  acres,  mainly  on 
the  level  plains  of  Morrisania,  are  already  laid  out  in  city  blocks, 
and  it  is  quite  evident  that,  with  the  two  lines  of  rapid  transit  to 
the  City  Hall,  this  valuation  of  $22,906,365  must  soon  be  very  largely 
increased. 

The  precise  area,  ascertained  by  recent  surveys,  is  2,729  acres  in 
the  Twenty-third  Ward,  composed  in  part  of  Morrisania,  and  9,588 
acres  in  the  Twenty-fourth  Ward,  north  of  Morrisania  and  Spuyten 
Duyvel  Creek,  being  in  all  12,317  acres.  If  317  acres  be  deducted 
as  unavailable  for  building  purposes,  it  will  leave  the  area  12,000 
acres. 

I  remain,  with  much  regard,  respectfully  your  friend  and  servant, 

Samuel  B.  Ruggles. 


New- York,  August  31,  1875. 

To  the  Hon.  William  H.  Wickham,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  JVeio- 
York  : 

My  Dear  Sir :  In  my  communication  addressed  to  you  on  the  28th 
of  August,  inst.,  I  sought  to  show  that  the  whole  area  of  that  part 
of  the  City  of  New- York  north  of  Fourteenth  (14th)  street,  and 
south  of  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  (155th)  street,  contained 
only  89,248  city  building  lots  of  the  ordinary  front  of  twenty-five 
(25)  feet,  after  deducting  the  portions  of  6pace  needed  for  streets, 
avenues  and  public  places,  squares  and  parks,  which  area  is  readily 
ascertainable  by  exact  computation,  by  reason  of  the  rectangular 
plan  of  that  portion  of  the  city. 

Without  entering  upon  all  the  details  of  this  computation,  it  may 
be  enough  for  the  present  to  state  : 

1.  That  the  area  of  this  portion  of  the  city  extends,  from  east  to 
west,  from  Avenue  A.,  on  or  near  the  East  River,  to  Twelfth  (12th) 
Avenue,  on  or  near  the  Hudson  River,  a  distance  of  10,570  feet,  being 
10  feet  more  than  two  miles. 

2.  That  this  area  is  laid  out  by  avenues,  (including  Broadway 
and  the  Western  Boulevard,)  running  north  and  south,  which  inter- 
sect 141  streets  running  east  and  west,  and  by  those  intersections 
diminishing  the  front  of  10,570  feet  for  building  lots,  furnished  by 
each  of  those  streets,  to  9,920  feet  on  each  side  of  the  street,  prac- 
tically leaving  794  lots  on  each  street. 


8 


3.  That  these  141  streets  consequently  furnish  141  multiplied  by 
794,  being  a  total  of  111,950  lots. 

4.  That  from  this  number  must  be  deducted  the  lots  taken  for 
public  places,  squares  and  parks,  which  have  been  ascertained  by 
the  present  examination  to  be  in  all  (including  the  11,928  lots  taken 
for  Central  Park)  22,708,  leaving  the  whole  available  supply  of 
building  lots  89,248. 

The  plan  of  the  city,  as  laid  out  under  the  act  of  1 807,  is  not  rec- 
tangular above  ]  55th-street,  at  which  point  the  island  narrows  to  an 
average  width  of  one  mile,  extending  in  length  very  nearly  four 
miles,  to  the  ancient  Spuyten  Duyvel  Creek  of  our  Dutch  ancestors, 
now  better  known  as  the  Harlem  River,  which  is  at  present  under 
official  survey  and  examination,  for  the  widening  and  deepening  of 
its  channel  for  national  purposes,  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States. 

The  exterior  lines  of  this  narrow  peninsula  have  many  sinuosities, 
rendering  it  necessary,  lor  the  present  purpose,  to  compute  its  area 
only  by  square  miles,  four  of  which,  at  640  acres  each,  contain  2,500 
acres.  Adopting  the  usual  computation  of  the  "  acre"  as  contain- 
ing twelve  city  building  lots  of  the  ordinary  dimensions,  with  25 
feet  front,  exclusive  of  the  space  required  for  streets  and  avenues, 
the  four  square  miles  in  question,  the  surface  of  which  is  generally 
elevated  much  above  the  city  levels  below  155th-street,  and  on 
which  now  stands  the  ancient  site  of  Fort  Washington  celebrated 
in  revolutionary  story,  contains,  for  more  civic  uses  in  our  modern 
days,  30,720  city  building  lots.  That  number  may  be  now  safely 
assumed  as  a  fair  approximate,  after  allowing  on  the  one  hand  for 
any  probable  increase,  by  docking  out  in  the  adjacent  rivers,  and 
on  the  other,  for  some  considerable  diminution  of  land  surface  in 
the  widening  and  deepening  the  channel  of  the  Harlem  River,  a 
work  which  will  secure  the  precious  commercial  boon  of  a  new  nav- 
igable channel,  of  sufficient  surface  and  depth  to  permit  the  direct 
and  unobstructed  passage  of  canal  boats  and  other  vessels  from  the 
Hudson  out  to  the  East  River,  and  thence  through  the  enlarged  and 
improved  strait  of  Hell  Gate ;  not  to  advert  to  the  great  facilities 
for  receiving  and  shipping  cereals  by  capacious  granaries  to  be 
erected  on  the  margins  of  this  central  channel  of  transportation. 
The  national  government  certainly  has  the  power  and  the  means  of 
fully  completing  these  works  which  it  has  undertaken,  and  it  can 
hardly  be  unwise  or  unnecessary  lor  our  enlightened  local  municipal 
government,  to  whom  the  solution  of  the  momentous  problem  of  Rapid 


9 


Transit  has  been  committed  by  the  State  Legislature,  now  to  take 
into  view  all  the  eventualities  reasonably  involved  in  the  problem. 

In  respect  to  the  89,248  lots  lying  south  of  155th-street,  and  nearer 
the  compactly  built  portions  of  the  city,  and  the  importance  of  ascer- 
taining beyond  any  doubt  whether  that  number  truly  represents  the 
full  supply,  it  may  be  safely  claimed  and  admitted,  that  no  survey, 
however  minute  or  careful,  can  show  any  result  varying,  at  the 
utmost,  more  than  500  lots  from  the  number  now  stated.  It  would 
show,  among  other  matters,  that  due  allowance  has  been  made  for 
the  projections  of  the  eastern  shore,  and  of  any  exterior  line  of  bulk- 
head east  of  Avenue  A.,  into  the  East  River,  and  notably  between 
14th-street  and  23d-street;  between  54th-street  and  94th-street ;  and 
between  lllth-street  and  123d-street. 

It  must  be  evident  that  the  time  has  now  arrived  when  the  avail- 
able amount  of  the  area  of  the  city  for  building  lots,  above  14th- 
street,  should  be  definitely  ascertained  and  adopted  as  a  basis  of 
legislation  by  the  governments  of  the  City  and  the  State  of  New- 
York,  and  pre-eminently,  at  present,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  precise  extent  of  land,  the  dormant  value  of  which,  when  fully 
developed  by  the  wonder-working  powers  of  cheap  and  rapid  steam 
transit,  may  be  made  to  contribute,  as  they  may  so  largely,  in  bear- 
ing the  serious  burthens  of  City  and  State  taxation,  and  that,  too, 
for  all  time  to  come. 

This  most  interesting  topic  would  admit  of  further  and  very  copi- 
ous illustration,  which,  if  deemed  necessary,  may  be  attempted  to 
some  extent  in  further  communications.  For  the  present,  it  may 
suffice  to  state  in  addition  only  a  few  leading  facts  in  respect  to  the 
past  growth  of  the  population  of  the  city,  and  to  the  simultaneous 
and  progressive  increase  in  the  valuation  for  taxes  of  the  real  estate 
north  of  14th-street.  They  certainly  may  be  accepted  as  a  useful,  if 
not  a  sufficient  guide,  in  estimating  the  probable  increase  in  the 
rapidly  coming  future. 

They  will  be  found  condensed  in  the  following  tables  : 

Past  Increase  in  Population  Below  and  Above  Fourteenth  Street. 


Below 
Uth  Street. 


Above 
14W  Street. 


The  population  of  the  whole  city  in 

1830  was  

1855  "   

1800  "   


202,589 
629,874 
814,254 


191,781 
417,474 
409,502 


11,808 
212,333 
245,412 


[The  population  haviDg  been  thinned 
by  the  war,  the  results  of  the  State 
Census  of  1865  are  omitted.] 

1870  was  

1875  "   


942,292 
988,618 


496.G44 
477,597 


445,598 
511,021 


10 


This  table  is  of  singular  interest,  in  showing  tlie  dominant  fact 
that  it  was  in  the  present  year,  1875,  that  the  scale  first  turned  in 
favor  of  the  portion  of  the  city  above  14th-street.  Its  residents  now 
constitute  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  city. 

It  will  be  also  seen,  that  the  table  docs  not  include  the  recent 
accessions  from  what  was  Westchester  County.  The  census  shows 
the  population  of  that  portion  of  the  metropolis,  as  yet  comparative- 
ly unpeopled,  but  now  legally  and  municipally  included  in  "New- 
York,"  as  being,  in  1875, 

In  the  23d  Ward,   24,407 

In  the  24th  Ward  12,059 

30,466 

The  details,  by  separate  wards,  of  the  population  of  the  portion 
of  the  old  city  north  of  14th-street,  are  as  follows  : 


1855. 

1875. 

G2.963 

18th  "   

  39,823 

49,084 

20th  "   

  47,055 

80,808 

59,605 

19th  "   

  17,806 

114,739 

  22,605 

85,381 

58,711 

212,333 

511,021 

From  the  preceding  table  may  readily  be  deduced  the  average 
yearly  increase  of  the  population  north  of  14th-stre'et,  which  was  as 
follows : 

Yearly  Average, 


In  the  25  years,  1830  to  1855,  inclusive,   200,778  8,075 

5     "     1855  to  1860,       "    33,771  6.755 

"     10     "     1860  to  1870,       "    199,686  19,968 

5     "    1870  to  1875,       "    64,923  12,982 


The  rate  of  yearly  increase  in  the  future  will  depend  very  largely  on 
the  forecast,  wisdom,  energy  and  promptness  with  which  our  munici- 
pal authorities  and  our  citizens  shall  exercise  the  power  which  they 
now  abundantly  possess,  to  secure  for  the  city  an  effective  and 
sufficient  system  of  cheap  and  rapid  steam  transit,  which  shall  justly 
and  fairly  unite  all  important  portions  of  the  city  in  one  common 
interest. 

The  tables  disclose  an  important  fact  of  peculiar  significance  in  its 
connection  with  the  supply  of  89,248  lots  south  of  155th-street, 


n 


which  is,  that  the  population  north  of  14th-street  reached  511,021  in 
1875,  which,  at  the  rate  of  ten  persons  for  each  building  lot,  M  ould 
absorb  51,102  of  the  supply,  nearly  all  of  which  were  drawn  from 
the  89,248  lots  between  14th  and  155th  streets.  That  abstraction 
of  51,102  lots  has  practically  reduced  the  supply  of  80,248  to  38,146 
lots,  which  must  be  all  that  now  remain  unoccupied  between  those 
streets.  That  number,  if  all  filled  to  the  utmost  degree  of  density 
for  the  whole  city  yet  shown  by  experience,  would  not  accommo- 
date more  than  381,400  additional  inhabitants.  What  portion  of 
that  additional  population  of  381,400  will  be  added  to  our  city,  and 
how  soon,  are  questions  dependent  somewhat  on  the  future  govern- 
ment of  the  city,  tlie  State  and  the  nation,  and  which  the  writer  of 
this  paper  is  not  called  upon  to  examine  at  present. 

Progress  of  Increase  in  Valuation  for  Taxation  of  Real 
Estate  above  Fourteenth-street. 

The  facts  embraced  under  this  branch  of  the  present  inquiry  are 
presented  in  the  two  following  tables  ;  the  first  of  which  shows  the 
total  increase  in  the  whole  city,  and  also  the  increase  respectively 
in  the  portions  north  and  south  of  Fourteenth-street. 

The  second  exhibits  the  distribution  of  this  increase  among  the 
geographical  portions  north  of  Fourteenth-street. 

I.  Increase  in  the  whole  City,  and  in  the  portions  Xorth  and  South 

OF  FoURTEENTH-STREET. 


Heal  Estate  in  the  South  of  Xortii  of 

Year,  whole  City.         Fourt-.enth-street.  Fourtetnth-street. 

1830   $125,238,508  ..  $120,974,383  ..  $4,204,135 

1855   330,975,866  ..  216,993.661  ..  119,982,205 

1S65   427,360.884  ..  254.020.144  ..  172,340,710 

1870,   742,134,350  ..  388.002,485  ..  354,131,805 

1875,   861,012,832  ..  406,529,369  ..  454,483,463 

II.  Distribution  among  the  Geographical  portions  indicated  bt  the 
Map,  of  the  Increase  in  the  Valuations  from  $119,982,205  in  1855, 
to  §454,483,463  in  1875. 

Geographical  portions.  1855.  1865.  1870.  1875. 

Between  14tli  and  26th 

streets,   $50,793,250  $57,804,700  $89,020,200  $97,353,450 

Between  20th  and  40th 

streets   34,750,275  53,500,180       91.828.990  108,538.050 

Above  40th  street   28,438,680  61,035,800  173,212,615  248,591,963 


North  of  14th-street,. . .  $119,982,205  $172,340,740  $354,131,805  $454,483,463 
South  of  14th-street,...    216,993,061     254,020,144     388,002,485  400,529,369 


Total  of  whole  city,...  $336,975,866  $427,360,884  $742,134,350  $801,012,832 


12 


The  very  rapid  increase  in  the  twenty  years  from  $28,438,080  to 
$24S,291,963,  in  the  geographical  portions  above  40th-street,  (which 
street  is  a  little  less  than  a  mile  south  of  the  southern  line  of  Cen- 
tral Park,)  is  mainly  attributable  to  the  establishment  and  the  im- 
provement of  the  Park  within  that  period. 

Historically  stated,  the  act  for  its  establishment  was  passed  in 
1853  ;  the  legal  proceedings  were  completed  in  December,  1S55, 
and  finally  confirmed  in  February,  1S50.  The  improvement  of  the 
Park  was  actively  commenced  in  1858,  in  which  year  $507,487  was 
expended  for  "construction,"  increased  by  1875  to  more  than 
$0,000,000.  The  area  of  the  Park  was  extended  in  1802  by  legal 
proceedings,  which  took  the  12  blocks  embracing  the  picturesque 
portion  lying  between  lOGtli  and  1 10th  streets,  and  also  by  the  act  of 
1874,  which  added  on  its  western  side  the  four  blocks  known  as 
"  Manhattan  Square,"  which  were  thereby  annexed  to  and  made  a 
part  of  the  Park. 

It  would  be  a  narrow  and  imperfect  view  of  the  large  extent  of 
land  thus  appropriated  to  the  Central  Park,  to  regard  it  as  devoted 
or  intended  only  for  amusement,  recreation  or  physical  health.  On 
the  contrary,  two  large  portions,  containing,  taken  together,  more 
than  two  thousand  city  lots,  lying  on  the  necessary  level,  now  are, 
and  permanently  must  be,  used  for  purposes  of  the  highest  utility, 
in  purifying  and  storing  the  immense  quantities  of  the  Croton 
water  needed  for  the  daily  life  of  the  city,  and  its  preservation  from 
fire,  while  other  considerable  portions,  with  equal  wisdom  and  fore? 
cast,  are  devoted  to  the  elevating  and  refining  purposes  of  science 
and  art,  and  the  gratuitous  and  instructive  exhibition  of  their 
treasures,  for  the  common  education  of  all  our  people.  No  liberal 
or  generous  mind  can  fail  to  see  and  to  feel,  that  the  great  Museums 
of  Natural  History  and  of  Art,  established  within  its  area  during 
the  last  five  years,  and  now  in  steady  progress,  and  in  part  com- 
pleted, will  largely  enhance  the  moral  and  intellectual  value  of  the 
Park,  which  will  stand  for  ages  before  the  civilized  world  as  a 
noble  organ  of  education,  advancing  the  general  culture  and  refine- 
ment of  the  inhabitants  of  a  city  acknowledged  at  home  and  abroad 
as  the  common  metropolitan  capital  of  the  Western  Continent. 

Our  citizens  at  large,  in  every  portion  of  the  city,  have  a  sacred 
right  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  Park,  on  which  they  should  firmly 
insist,  now  and  always.  The  sum  already  expended  in  acquiring 
the  land  forming  this  immense  "  public  place,"  and  in  its  liberal 
improvement,  exceeds  twenty  millions,  every  dollar  of  which  lias 
been  raised  either  by  the  wise  and  provident  use  of  our  common 


13 


municipal  credit,  or  by  yearly  taxes  directly  levied  upon  all  the 
taxable  real  estate  from  the  southernmost  front  of  the  Battery  to  the 
northernmost  winding  of  the  Spuyten  Duyvel  Creek. 

It  is  this  cardinal  and  undeniable  fact  which  clearly  entitles  each 
and  all  of  the  taxpayers  in  the  city  to  claim,  that  every  considera- 
tion of  equality  and  equity  requires  that  each  and  all  should  fairly 
participate,  and  share  as  equally  as  possible,  and  that,  too,  without 
undue  and  unjust  delay,  iu  all  the  benefits,  pecuniary  or  physical, 
moral  or  intellectual,  to  be  derived  from  a  common  acquisition  so 
costly  and  so  precious. 

Coupled  with  this  supreme  "  right  of  the  people,"  is  another  all- 
controlling  fact,  that  steam,  the  monarch  of  modern  times,  has  now 
fully  come  into  the  world,  to  equalize  the  condition  of  men  and  of 
localities,  and  among  its  many  and  mighty  functions,  expressly  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  the  local  government  of  our  city,  with  its 
geographical  portions  so  widely  separated,  now  to  remedy  the  evil 
by  so  far  abolishing  distance,  as  to  bring  the  full  and  free  enjoy- 
ment of  this  really  "  central"  Park,  with  all  its  attractions,  present 
and  future,  in  less  than  twenty  minutes,  and  at  a  cost  probably  not 
exceeding  one-half  that  number  of  cents,  within  the  reach  of  all 
the  people  of  the  city,  even  with  its  new  and  metropolitan  dimen- 
sions. 

In  this  providential  march  of  events,  the  just  and  wise  regulation 
of  this  invaluable  and  most  beneficent  power  of  locomotion  has 
been  committed,  at  least  for  a  time,  to  the  sole  discretion  of  the 
local  authorities  elected  by  the  whole  people  of  the  city. 

There  surely  can  be  no  good  reason  to  apprehend  that  such  a 
duty,  in  such  hands,  will  be  in  any  way  disregarded  or  neglected, 
but  on  the  contrary,  every  grouud  for  hope  that  the  supreme  import- 
ance of  connecting  all  portions  of  the  city  not  only  with  its  great 
centres  of  business,  but  also  with  the  Central  Park  and  its  neighbor- 
hood, will  be  fully  recognised,  with  well  considered  and  efficient 
measures  for  securing  all  those  benefits  and  blessings  at  an  early  day. 

In  respect  to  the  probable  rate  of  increase  in  the  assessed  values 
of  the  real  estate,  not  only  in  the  upper  wards,  but  in  every  portion 
of  the  city,  it  may  be  reasonably  expected,  that  the  commencement, 
and  still  more,  the  completion  of  adequate  lines  of  Rapid  Transit, 
will  lead  to  a  rapid  absorption  of  all  the  lots  yet  remaining  unoccu- 
pied. Without  attempting  precisely  to  fix  any  aggregate  amount 
of  valuation  which  may  be  realized  within  the  next  five  or  seven 
years,  it  may  be  reasonably  assumed  from  past  experience,  that 
whenever  thirty  thousand  (30,000,)  of  the  supply  of  building  lots 


14 


yet  remaining  unexhausted  shall  be  occupied  by  suitable  ami  sub- 
stantial buildings,  the  assessed  value  of  the  -whole  120,000  lots  will 
be  increased  to  at  least.  (S>SOO,00(),000)  eight  hundred  millions  of 
dollars.  In  weighing  the  importance  of  this  mathematical  fact,  so 
directly  and  largely  affecting  the  city  treasury,  we  should  also  con- 
sider, that  it  has  a  deeper  and  more  solemn  significance,  in  exhibit- 
ing a  very  important  and  necessary  portion  of  the  great,  formative 
process  by  which  our  metropolis,  now  so  rapidly  increasing  in  terri- 
tory, is  plainly  destined,  amid  all  its  varying  vicissitudes,  ultimately 
to  reach,  under  the  Providence  of  God,  its  full  maturity,  and  perma- 
nently to  maintain  its  proper  rank  among  the  greatest  of  the  marts 
of  commerce  in  the  Christian  world. 

Requesting  that  the  present  communication,  with  the  additional 
facts  now  presented,  may  be  considered  in  connection  with,  and 
taken  as  part  of  the  previous  communication  of  the  28th  of  August, 
instant,  I  remain,  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  friend  and  servant, 

Samuel  B.  Ruggles. 


Lettek  to  the  President  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission. 

New- York,  Awj.  31,  IS 75. 

Joseph  Seligman,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Board  of  Rapid  Transit 
Commissioners  : 

My  Dear  Sir  : — The  letter  of  the  28th  August,  inst.,  transmitted 
by  the  Mayor  on  the  30th,  to  the  Commission,  contains  only  a  por- 
tion of  the  important  statistics  needed  for  a  full  view  of  the  whole 
subject  of  the  past  and  of  the  future  growth  of  our  great  metropolis, 
and  the  consequent  value  of  its  immense  real  estate.  The  remaining 
portion  I  have  endeavored  to  embrace  in  the  supplemental  commu- 
nication to  the  Mayor,  presented  to  him  to-day.  Taken  together, 
I  believe  that  they  substantially  cover  the  ground  which  I  presented 
to  yourself  verbally  and  briefly  on  the  Cth  of  August,  inst.,  and 
which  you  then  requested  me  to  reduce  to  writing. 

It  possibly  may  be  found  necessary  to  construct  the  great  system 
of  Rapid  Transit  in  successive  portions  ;  but  with  all  possible  respect, 
1  must  say  that  any  system  is  hugely  incomplete  and  defective 
which  does  not,  at  the  threshold,  distinctly  prescribe,  and  at  least 
prospectively  provide  for,  two  trunk  lines  adequately  accommodat- 


15 


ing  both  of  the  great  eastern  and  western  divisions  of  tbe  city, 
caused  by  its  permanent  bisection  by  tbe  Central  Park  into  two 
widely  separated  and  disconnected  portions. 

Our  suffering  tax-payers  will  indulge  tbe  hope,  that  tbe  forth- 
coming  report  of  the  Commission  will,  at  least,  distinctly  recognise, 
and  as  far  as  now  practicable,  provide  for  this  vital  necessity. 

I  certainly  feel  well  assured,  that  a  just,  liberal  and  comprehen- 
sive policy  will  commend  itself  to  your  individual  judgment. 

With  cordial  regard, 

Respectfully  yours, 

Samuel  B.  Ruggles. 


PLAN"  OF  ROUTES  PRESCRIBED. 

By  examining  the  map,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  plan  of  routes 
prescribed  by  the  Rapid  Transit  Commissioners,  embracing  two  dis- 
tinct circuits,  exceeding,  with  their  branches,  twenty  miles  in  length, 
fully  and  fairly  provides  for  both  of  tbe  upper  sections  of  the  city 
south  of  155th-street.  Xo  adequate  provision  appears  to  be  made 
for  the  elevated  district  north  of  that  street  and  south  of  Harlem 
River.  The  levels,  derived  from  official  sources,  and  now  added  to 
the  map,  show  that  the  10th  Avenue  at  155th-street  lies  148  feet, 
and  at  181st-street  163  feet,  above  tide  level,  rendering  it  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  connect  that  district  by  steam  railway  with 
the  lines  prescribed  by  the  Commissioners  along  or  in  the  Harlem 
River. 

The  Commissioners,  however,  very  properly  suggest,  that  by  sub- 
sequent proceedings,  and  if  necessary  by  a  separate  Commission, 
provision  may  be  hereafter  made  for  Rapid  Transit  over  the  territory 
recently  acquired  from  Westchester  County,  much  of  which  is  un- 
dulating in  surface,  but  for  that  very  reason,  temporarily  desirable  for 
suburban  residences.  The  same  legal  proceeding  might  well  include 
tbe  elevated  portion  of  Manhattan  Island  north  of  looth-street. 
Meanwhile,  both  districts  are  to  be  partially  accommodated  by  the 
Suspension  Bridge  for  ordinary  carriages,  recently  adopted  by  the 


1G 

Board  of  Park  Commissioners,  and  laid  down  on  the  map  as  cross- 
ing the  Harlem  River  at  lSlst-street,  at  an  elevation  of  1.37  feet 
above  tide  water.  Such  a  structure  may  be  readily  supplemented 
in  future  years,  -whenever  necessary,  by  a  solid  railway  viaduct 
on  arches,  at  the  level  necessary  for  furnishing  Steam  Transit  to 
both  of  these  large  and  interesting  divisions  of  the  metropolis,  des- 
tined eventually  to  add  so  largely  to  its  varied  attractions. 

S.  B.  R. 

Nbw-YokKj  October  20,  1875. 


Ex  IGibrtfl 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


